四级考试中阅读理解的题型，以细节性题为主。然而，每次考试四篇文章中对主题题的考察还是有2-3道，如何把这4-6分得到是很多同学感到很棘手的问题。希望通过本文对四级文章主题的分析，同学们能对这种题型有更好的把握。
通常，在做主题题时，大家一般会在文章首段和尾端找答案。或者说认为一般文章中心出现在第一段首。其实，这种情况在四级文章的几率顶多是三分之一。而文章主题出现的方式（即地点）起码有四种（此处所说的主题虽不一定就是主题题的答案，但其中必然含有整个文章所说的中心话题或主体词，或者可以看出作者的褒贬态度。把此句话读懂，在做主题题时可迅速排除至少2个答案）。在此分作细说：
一、开门见山
这种文章的主题最好找。一般来说，开头是个陈述句或者判断句。其后没有对其进行否定。最典型的要算下定义型的文章了。比如90年1月的关于海洋学以及97年1月关于身份的文章。开头都是对海洋学和身份进行了定义，其后展开论述。对于这类文章，大部分同学在做主题题时还是比较好把握的。不过，有两点要注意的地方：
（一）首句作出陈述后，后面的论述有转折，但该转折不是对首句的否定。比如98年1月关于Violin Prodigies(神童)那篇文章，第一段快到末尾处出现转折，但细心的读者会发现，这只是对一个例子内部的转折。不影响整个文章的态度。再如02年1月的老年学那篇文章以及02年6月的absent-mindedness那篇文章，也是这种情况。但一旦读出中心话题，主题题就很好做了，以这篇文章为例稍作说明。
Most episodes of absent-mindedness - forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room - are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. "You're supposed to remember something, but you haven't encoded it deeply."
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don't pay attention to what you did because you're involved in a conversation, you'll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in you wardrobe (衣柜). "Your memory itself isn't failing you," says Schacter. "Rather, you didn't give your memory system the information it needed."
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. "A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago," says Zelinski, "may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox." Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.
Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. "But be sure the cue is clear and available," he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table - don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you're there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. "Everyone does this from time to time," says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you'll likely remember.
第一句话就是文章主题所在，虽然第二句有转折，但并不是对第一句的否定。再看本文的最后一道题：
30. What is the passage mainly about?
A) The process of gradual memory loss.
B) The causes of absent-mindedness.
C) The impact of the environment on memory.
D) A way if encoding and recalling.
只要把开头的主题把握住了，这道题就很容易做出来了。
（二）开头提出话题，其后展开论述，虽然答案不一定就是开头那句话的同义转述，但正确答案中一定要包含开头那句话中的关键词（或者叫主体词，一般在后文中反复出现）典型的例子就是99年一月关于广告及2000年6月关于美国人喜欢制服这两篇文章。
二、抛砖引玉
顾名思义，这种文章开头绝不会是文章中心。这类文章一般会在开头引入一个例子（这种例子的典型的特点是有具体时间人物事件）。然后，在通常情况下，对该例子进行转折，或者负评价（本质上也是转折，与转折分开论述是因两者表现形式不一样），或者是总结。
（一）转折的基本标志诸如：however, yet, but的出现一般标志着文章主题的出现。不过，还有一些转折大家庭里的词汇也是大家需要留意的，如：despite, still, in fact.或者一些意义上表示转折的词如：surprisingly（如99年6月PR那篇文章），today（如2000年12月垃圾回收那篇文章）等等。这些转折一般出现在第一段末尾或者第二段开头。转折在抛砖引玉型文章中最常出现。
（二）其次是负评价，虽然没有转折词，但是对前文进行的否定型的评价一样意味着文章中心的出现。最典型的一篇文章要算93年6月关于时尚这篇文章的论述了，第一段说了一大堆，第二段开头：Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste 马上对时尚做了一个负评价。对整个文章的褒贬定了一个调。把这句话读懂，大意就可以有个了解了。在做题时甚至是细节题都可以直接排除一些正评价的选项了。
（三）开头引一段例子，其后进行总结的文章诸如99年一月英国草盖屋一文第一段尾出现总结性评价。这类文章中心出现是以therefore, as a result, so, thus, hence等词汇的出现为标志的。在此不一一赘述 。在做抛砖引玉型文章时也需注意以下一个特点或者叫做难点，即有些文章转折出现得靠后，这就要求同学们把文章重心的理解放在靠后出现的转折后面的内容。这种文章有以下几篇：97年6月份关于洛杉矶大地震（despite出现在第四段首），95年一月英国工作一文（but出现在第三段首），99年6月玩具一文（第三段首出现转折），02年1月道德下降一文（第三段首出现转折）02年6月心理压力一文（第三段首出现转折）。以97年6月份关于洛杉矶大地震这篇文章为例我们稍作分析。
After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll（死亡人数）could have been much worse.
More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, as earthquake of similar intensity that shook America in 1988 claimed 25,000 victims.
Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, when traffic was light on the city's highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city's buildings and highways, making them more resistant to quakes.
Despite the good new, civil engineers aren't resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints（蓝图）for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place.
In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake's vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction.
The new smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.
前三段全部在谈地震的影响及死亡人数少的原因，不知道文章中心在哪儿，第四段开头出现：Despite the good new, civil engineers aren't resting on their successes.紧跟着出现文章主题：Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints（蓝图）for improved quake-resistant buildings.所以在做主题题时关键在与把这一句读出来。这样在做最后一题的时候就不会出错了。
25. The author's main purpose in writing the passage is to ________.
A) compare the consequences of the earthquakes that occurred in the U.S.
B) encourage civil engineers to make more extensive use of computers
C) outline the history of the development of quake-resistant building materials
D) report new developments in constructing quake-resistant buildings
